The Beasts of No Nation star, 44, was devastated when he lost his dad Winston to lung cancer in 2013, saying he became a ‘robot’ with his work following the loss.

‘He was 72. Too young,’ Idris told Esquire. ‘He had so much life in him. My old man wanted to do so much more. He just didn’t get a chance.’

Idris bared all on his personal life to Esquire Magazine (Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

The Luther star said: ‘I got to a place where I wasn’t even living anymore. I was becoming a robot with my work.

‘I have no fear of jumping out of burning cars or out of buildings on set, but in reality, I couldn’t run one hundred metres. I just felt out of touch with reality,’ he said.

Idris as DCI John Luther in Luther, which is returning to our screens (Picture: BBC)

Previously, Idris revealed his mother Eve was less than impressed with his decision to try his hand at kickboxing for a new TV documentary, saying: ‘She was really worried. She came to my first amateur fight and it was pretty harrowing for her. I had quite a lot of friends and family there and they couldn’t believe what I was doing,’ he told.

‘I drew that fight, but I got knocked down in the third round by a pretty brutal uppercut. But my mum was the only one of my family who was like, “This is silly.'”

‘In between rounds, when it was quiet, I heard my mum saying, “Drink some water, don’t let him kick you in the head, what are you doing this for? Do you need your asthma inhaler?” I was like, “Mum, please be quiet.'”